MotorMouth

Monday, November 7, 2011

Altered Space: New Work from Amy Hancock-Martin

Hancock-Martin uses the exhibition space as a core material in her work. Alterations to a building are observed in changes to the finish of the space. Ceiling surfaces, walls floors and fittings are adjusted or covered to achieve a new texture, pattern and experience of the location.

In this working of layers, the artist shows us something unseen and unexpected. The predictable lines and patterns found in the building are juxtaposed against the installed work in a play with the hidden; through what is stripped back and made honest but also through what is concealed to deceive. The sense of play within the work constructs an interactivity that isn’t instructed or contrived, but engages questions of what is believable and what we can trust.

The care and attention to each installation employs detailed craftsmanship of each component, bringing to question comments on mass production, quality and good design and its place in architecture.

In the fragility in these new surfaces the viewer is forced to ask how well built the space is - will the ceiling fall, and will the floor hold me up?